Home Front: "pocalypse stew"

Having a hot meal is a simple way to both bolster morale but also provide much needed nutrition and energy, especially in adverse conditions. Being able to reliably produce a meal can be as good as magic in the field. I had the chance to do so at a recent post-apocalyptic Live action role playing camping trip, whee we had to set up themed camp with a deadline, and a pot-luck dinner had been planned. There was a total-fire ban in place so no campfires were allowed, but portable gas burners were allowed if supervised. I had brought along my SOLIDteknics AUS-ION Noni pot and some apocalypse themed austere ingredients.


2 x cans corned 340g Hamper Corned beef
1 x can 822g Edgell potato tiny taters
2X McDonalds tomato sauce
2x instant noodle sachets bumbu & fried onions

The corned beef cans come with a key to open them by twisting the top off. The Tiny Taters can didn't have an easy open option, however, I had my trusty p-51 opener and made quick work of the can. I up-ended the cans of corned beef, which had the texture and appearance of cat-food and set it to sizzling. when the fat had rendered, I poured in the whole can of tiny taters, water and all (waste not, want not) and then stirred it through. This made for a very wet stew so I was glad I had the noodle sachets to add. in they went and then the McDonalds / KFC ketsup. (I save everyone of these I get for just this reason.)

After a little cooking down, I served it up into the mugs and mess-tins of my compatriots and we had cooked, adult meal to go with the tear-aparts and dips we had combined. It was quite salty (the noodle-bumbu is mostly salt) but palatable and by the next day, there was only half scoop worth at the bottom of the pot.
Not a pretty meal by a long shot, but it was fast, (taking less than 10 minuted from pile of ingredients to edible food in mugs).

Different spice and sauce mixes could change the palatability if available but could even be skipped entirely. Canned corned beef has an approximate shelf life of 2-5 years but who knows how long it could last and be safe to eat? Certainly worth considering if outfitting that cabin-in-the-woods or bunker. I certainly keep a couple of cans in my bug-out food crate and you should to!

Some additional variants that would make improvements to an otherwise very plain meal. A handful of rice, or oats would give additional body, as would dry beans or split peas. Some jerky or even fresh meat scraps would be additional and offer a delightful surprise in some mouthfuls. Bear in mind to soften beans, rice and jerky additional cooking time (and water) will be required. As well as the Bumbu powder sachets saved from ramen noodles, I also save the sauce and oil sachets which can add flavour and body to just about any meal. Remember that fats and oils are an important dietary requirement and energy rich as well as carrying flavours. They also aid in the cooking process if you fry things, so keeping some in your supply is multifunctional.

Review: Combat Australia - ghillie suit

Getting kitted up!

For the last four years I have attended an annually held post-apocalyptic  Live Action Roleplay event called “After the Fall”, the first iteration “Event Zero” I wrote about here:

In the first iteration I played a gung-ho soldier type who met his end being hacked apart by Steel Legion ravagers after a NERF-gun malfunction and failure to adequately transition to CQB weapons. In subsequent games, I signed up with the Junkers; a culty bunch of wasteland scavengers, scrapping by on the edge of the town of Sanctuary. The new persona I developed was the of “Trashman”  a somewhat deranged human scarecrow. Central to this character was the philosophy of “you can’t kill what you can’t find” and central to this was my new costume. Regular cammies wouldn't do so I opted for a modified suit of Desert Camo Ghillie. 

Pushing some food in before heading back into the bushes

Which I “junked-up” to keep in theme. I got my Ghillie from  Combat Australia who had this to say of them:

Why is a Ghillie camo suit so much better than just the standard issue AUSCAM uniform for concealment and camouflage?

The uniform that the Australian Military current used is called the DPCU, which stands for Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform. It is a general purpose uniform designed to disrupt the visibility of a soldier from 300 metres and beyond. It is obviously not designed to be the perfect blending colors for all terrain including urban, bush and deserts. The Ghillie (or in Australian military its more commonly known as a Yowie suit although that is changing over time) is designed to go beyond this and actually hide the soldier.

Get your cover on, Trashman

The Gillie Suit has the ability to conceal the soldier which is not only far more effective at 300 metres but is very effective at close range distances. For instance, 50-100 metres and in some cases -point blank. It achieves this in several ways. Firstly the colors are designed specifically for the Australian bush and therefore are far more effective given that no consideration has to be made for urban or desert warfare. The colors are based on the woodlands American design but are slightly lighter to best cope with the Australian bush, which are muted shades due to the drier climate.

 I adorned my suit with “trash” in the form of blue bailing twine from hay-bales and curb-side rubbish bundles, and strips of shredded plastic shopping bags, which I tied to the twine or directly to the burlap strands.  I also took to tying on any piece of litter I found dropped in the scout park we based the game in.   

I fully acknowledge that doing so took way from the “natural muted colours” the suits provided but it lent to the “human detritus” characterization I was going for and I kept a close eye on the kinds of rubbish you see in abandoned lots, under railway siding bushes and the like, as  I was intending to lay in ditches and under bushes a lot. A touch of social engineering was in play here: the litter-blindness people get when having fun. “don’t look at me, I’m work …”

Combat Australia go on to say this of their Ghillie suits: The 5 S's of Cam and Concealment

In military speak the cam and concealment come under the 5 S’s...

One windblown clump of trash or a whole TrashMAN?

·         Surroundings:

Have the cam and concealment lesson this consideration comes under the title of surroundings?

I made a habit of moving  through the tree lines as often as possible, avoiding open fields and roads.  The offered me plenty of duck and cover options  and also kept me in the shade out of the hot sun.

·         Shape:

Shape refers to the soldier being spotted due to the symmetry of his body eg. straight arms, legs, head and also the symmetry or shape of the troop movement being the soldiers in a group or formation. Ghillie suits work towards disguising this by disrupting the straight lines of a human body and disrupting the pattern of soldiers in formation together so they more closely resemble vegetation.

why are all the photos of Bigfoot off center or blurry?

I walked hunched and bow legged, I tucked my arms and kept my stubby  NERF launcher in Classic Low Ready

·         Shine:

Another important consideration is Shine, obviously the DPCU has some success in alleviating this concern but the 3 dimensional nature of the suit is far more effective and pretty much eliminates this concern completely. Wearing the Ghillie/Yowie suit answers this concern comprehensively.

I draped the included weapon drape scarf of the suit over and around my NERF launcher, leaving its action free my attached scope accessible. Pulling the mesh down over my face obscured vision a little but greatly masked my shiny skin and glasses

·         Shadow:

Shadow is another concern especially when trying to be concealed from air drones. Although the soldier’s body is almost impossible for the drones to spot, the shadow can be very obvious at certain times of the day. The Ghillie/Yowie suit again assists in this regard by breaking up the obvious shadow of a man much like it distorts the shape, making the shadows more closely resemble the natural vegetation.

In the most recent event “ Buyers Regret” we were informed there was a drone in play.  I never saw it, but shadows can give you away on the ground too.  I was especially careful with this at night as the site had street lamps  along its roads which cast long shadows. Any moving shadows were a dead giveaway.

·         Silhouette:

These points are also very similar to the issue of silhouette as again it distorts the obvious outline of a soldier silhouetted against the backdrop of distant light sources.

Photobombing a mutant Wastelander. never knew

As with “Shape” and “Shadow”. I kept to behind the tree line when moving and aimed to lurk behind or in copses of trees rather than on roads or plains. Its amazing how often people will walk right around  a corner and not “slice the pie”  in an outdoor setting. Squatting by a stump or leaning up against a tree “thinking tree thoughts” I was often bypassed or ignored. Once people realised I was “out there” this became a running joke, with people talking to bushes and denying being alone because “Trashman is here too”.  The number of people who blissfully unawares put their back to what was essentially a murder-hobo was astounding.

There are many advantages to wearing a ghillie camoflauge suit kit over a conventional flat colored uniform. One of the considerations to be made when wearing a Ghillie or Yowie suit are that it is always going to be hotter inside the suit than wearing a standard camouflage uniform. This is obviously the case as the material is thicker by its very nature and works somewhat like a fur coat. This concern is alleviated as much as possible by the design and construction of the suit.

Junker with a Trashman shadow

The inside lining is made of sweat mesh which allows air to flow through as much as possible. The strands and individual meaning they are not “clumps” of cloth than can more effectively retain body heat. These strands are similar to single strands of what we call in Australia “hessian” although other parts of the world including the US and the UK more commonly refer to this material as “burlap”.

Shift change at the Town gates brings Trashman out of the bushes

Please note that although there are some fire resistant qualities to this material it is still highly flammable and should be kept some distance from open flames. Other considerations are that it is obviously heavier than just wearing a uniform (by about 1.5kg) and gathers weight as vegetation gets stuck to it. Retaining vegetation is an intentional characteristic as its optimal to have natural and realistic local vegetation working in conjunction with the suit but will add to its weight as it retains stick and twigs and leaves.

Trashman attending wounded after a mass casualty IED attack, spot him?

 

 

I found that my ankles, knees and elbows picked up the most detritus and that around the ankle hems the burlap fibbers fluffed up and collected the most  vegetation. This had a bonus effect of brushing away some of my tracks as I walked, dragging in the dirt as I stalked.

The third consideration is that fact that the suit will make more noise than a standard uniform as it by its very nature displace more vegetation around the soldier when in the prone position or when in the standing position against vegetation in that mater. The suit is most effective when hiding in one place for longer periods of time rather than running. It is best suited therefore to stalking.

Popping up from cover to provide more menacing overwatch, remained unobserved

When  I took picket for my Faction or provided overwatch on one of many “babysitting” runs I did on valuable assets,  I would find an off-track spot and sit, or lay and gather handfuls of local detritus and toss it over myself to better blend in and add to my ” I’m meant to be here“ aura. Walking slowly through the bush and being mindfull of twigs and the like was important as the added bulk of the suit (including height). I snagged on lots of things over the weekend and learned a good distance to keep and how to move  quieter as the event drew on. Part of the discipline was to keep he suit on the whole time. I donned it after getting up and only doffed it for bed.

In the Australian Army there are quite a few regiments where possessing a Yowie suit is required. To my knowledge this very day there is not an issued Ghillie suit, this is intentional so that the soldier becomes capable of constructing his own which in turn, makes more effective camouflage.

 I found that the press-stud  jacket closure was probably  a touch weak ,but with an over-belt it stayed on even when snagged ,and even over my post-apocalyptic tire armor a button or toggle or two would fix that… Also the drawstring pants was only barely sufficient to keep the pants on and in place, especially when crawling through brush belt loops would assist as would a bracer-system which I could rig, for next time.

Paint me like one of your French piles of trash, Jack.

All this said, I got spotted by a lot of people too. Wearing a ghillie suit does not make you invisible but standing behind a bush thick enough to stop a NERF dart doesn't make you bulletproof either.   Bushcraft beats gear any day. Trashman the "Tasty Tree" avoided cannibal ambush for another year. Watch out when you drop that butt and where you pee or when you check under your chair you might see Trashman hiding under there, eating your bees!

Professionally watermarked photos courtesy of The Professional  Hobbyist on Patreon here and on Facebook here.

Events: After the Fall: New Hill City

I went to a Live Action Roleplay event not too long ago,  which went over three days and two nights. it was an immersive post-apocalyptic themed event, which was perfect for me.

 

This was billed as a resource and group survival driven event, with three distinct factions, which meant we had to depend on each other, and fend the other off, as the situation required.   

We were to delve into the world of After the Fall.

This LRP group is based in  Melbourne and aimed to have a high degree of costume, set dressing and role playing at this event.

The setting was this:
The year is 2030 and things have changed. The world that we will be playing in is a dystopian American future where corporations have accumulated so much power and influence that the government has been made redundant. There hasn't been a president for 5 years and nobody has really cared. Most of the USA has been reduced to a wasteland as laws are not enforced and infrastructure not supported.  

There are fortified cities that are run by corporations and wealthy individuals but they are few and far apart.

Different parts of the country will have unique dangers. There are irradiated areas and parts where chemical waste has caused nasty side effects. 

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I signed up as a PC (Player Character) for the game so I was to choose to be a member of one of the 3 factions. We couldn't play as an independent character. This was a story of how groups of people survive and interact in this setting. 

There were a small number of NPC's (Non Player Characters) who swaped roles from time to time in order to provide some plot based encounters for the players to interact with but the intent was that a lot of the roleplaying and conflict will be within or  between the factions.
Due to the violent and dangerous nature of the game setting it was recommended that we considered multiple character ideas in case our first characters died or was taken out of play for whatever reason. Sickness, radiation and chemical poisoning as well as a reasonable injury recovery period was expected. 

The internal combat system was with un-enhanced NERF-type weapons (decoration was however required) and LRP approved foam close combat weapons. Generally, unless you had representative armour props, two hits would kill. LRP events are based on an honour system, and the system worked pretty well. Brutally so.

Especially when we consider the resources aspect. I'll get to that. 

The three Major Factions:
The town of New Hill City
Slowly the groups found each other, banding together for survival. People who wanted to make a future for themselves and not just live in the violence of the present. In their travels they found an abandoned town in Kansas, Hill City. 

Taking over some of the buildings they have begun a new life. It is a difficult life on the frontier of chaos but they work hard to make it succeed.
  
The Soldiers of the True Americas:
Born out of an anti-government militia from before the fall, STA has been trying to gather resources and personnel to bring back the good old USA to its previous glory. They are
ruthless and accept that not everyone will have a place in the new world.


The Legion of Steel
Nobody remembers who founded the LOS but they have been terrorising the roads and highways of the Midwest for several years now. Due to their violent lifestyle they have an incredibly high turnover. But there are always more people wanting to join and rampage across the country. They take what they want and kill anyone who gets in their way.


I  opted for the STA, because I like trying out my kit, have a bunch of it already, and wanted to have a couple of different layouts to run about in, and generally like to see how it works in stressful situations.

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I set up as "Ronin" who was heavily supplied, armed and armoured. I also set up as "Coyote" who was lightly kitted, armoured and armed.

The real kicker was the ammunition situation. Even the STA faction, which was military based, had so little ammo that we were rationed only three NERF rounds each. This was a dire situation to be in, especially when you consider the range and hitting power they have, as well as outdoor windage. Fortunately we all had melee weapons as well. I had a dagger and a machete as my backups, as well as a pistol I never bothered to load, along with the NERF rifle I had. I had a scope on it (more to save carrying binoculars than to actually be useful with a NERF gun) and a light at the muzzle end. I took both off when I swapped to my "Coyote" persona.

I wore ATACS-AU as "Ronin" and MultiCam as "Coyote" and I'll talk about that in a future article.

We also all brought gas-masks. I have to say, fighting in a gas-mask is really, really hard. If you have a mask, and intend to use it in the event of a disaster, get it out, and PRACTICE. My "Ronin" character was killed in a bottleneck when blindsided by marauders.


The three factions set up in widely different areas of our site; the STA set up in a wide flat grassland, a circle of tents within a ring of faux-barbed wire, (I camped in my SMr Nube hammock slightly away from the main circle), slightly hidden, because I'm paranoid like that. I wasn't really happy with the wide-open setup we had, but, I wasn't in command ....

The LOS set up in a far distant corner of the site, enclosed by trees and shrubs, and then they build a stockade from pallets and the like, they decorated their area in classic "cannibal ganger" fashion, and it looked a treat. Well done to all of their hard work getting it on-theme.

The New Hill City Townies had the on-site cabins, and rec-hall set up as their town, and tavern, and the difference between cabin-dwellers and tenting-nomads was really apparent. Made for a great feel to the game.


The main push of the game was both survival and resource gathering. This was covered in two ways. Each group was issued "rations" in the form of in-game medical suplies (anti-chem, anti-rad and "healing" meds), random cans of food (beans, spaghetti, stew, fruit-salad) and "non-contaminated water", we even had a jar of Vegemite ). as both our food supplies for the weekend, but also as trade goods. There were also "non-consumable" supplies we were supplied as props.

We could eat well, or be rich, our call.

Caption by Michael Brady

Then there was the ammunition situation. We were one of the most heavily armed factions, but literally had 2-3 rounds each at deployment.

There were in-game mechanics for raiding each other's camps, and also "random dropped items" to be found around the site by the organisers.

Caption by Michael Brady

There was also looting! we routinely looted the bodies of the fallen, (within reason) to collect those in-game resources (no fair stealing other peoples kit), and this also extended to that food and water ration we all had. We also traded for resources, both goods for goods, and goods for service and information.

It was a really fun opportunity both for characterization, but also for negotiation skills.

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We also had a number of people with personal trade items (and skills and services) on offer, to add to the whole experience. I had a collection of KFC moist towelettes and sauce sachets that I traded for some eggs in town, for the STA.

We had some in-game hazards as well, from areas of radiation contamination, including water supplies, which made our characters "debilitatingly sick"

Raiders, chem-clouds, a bio-engineered nanite plague and just human nature all played a part in making this not only a challenge, but a struggle for survival.

In the end, we all had a good time, got to run around as cannibal savages or misfit soldiers, camp and cook beans like real post apocalyptic survivors...

I had a really good time, and will be back for more when their second event comes out later this year. I think I will work more on my loadouts, and also my gas-mask operation too, before the event, as well as trying to get a more cohesive feel between my faction members and small unit tactics in the field.